Tuesday, December 18, 2018

(Buenos Aires) The Jesuit General Arturo Sosa Abascal has appointed Father Rafael Velasco as the new Provincial of the Province of Argentina and Uruguay. The appointment was "the worst of the worst," says Spanish columnist Francisco Fernandez de La Cigoña. From 1973 to 1979 Jorge Mario Bergoglio, today's Pope Francis, was Provincial of this province.

The new provincial was Rector of the Catholic University of Cordoba (UCC) until 2014. He advocates the recognition of homosexuality and the introduction of women's priesthood and assures that he will continue to adhere to Marxist liberation theology.

He expressed his views on this in an interview with the Argentine journalist Mariano Saravia in 2013. Velasco then called for "reforms" in the Church that, in addition to recognizing homosexuality and the admission of the women's priesthood, also meant the elimination of the Roman Curia, the last medieval court in the middle in the 21st century.” "The community should have more say" in episcopal appointments.

On the objection that Pope John Paul II had definitely excluded the women's priesthood, Velasco replied that Pope Francis could simply "reopen" the question. There is "nothing the Pope can not open. The pope or a council.” [What happened to not turning back the clock?]

There are "logical" consequences to be drawn, "if a homosexual lives the same norms of love and loyalty that we demand from heterosexuals, then we must totally rehabilitate them for the sacraments, beginning with communion."

The former rector of the Catholic University denied the infallibility of the pope in the interview, when he speaks excathedra to questions of theology and morality. According to Velasco, the infallibility in matters of faith is "democratizing.”

According to the Jesuit, Marxist liberation theology is "the reality of reading the word of God from the poor.” The Church has "always" made policy, "but the only ones who have been punished are Ernesto Cardenal and Fernando Lugo."

Cardenal, one of the priests who became armed revolutionaries in the wake of Marxism, was from 1979, Minister of the Sandinista Revolutionary Government in Nicaragua, and Lugo was elected as a candidate for a left-wing alliance to the Presidency of Paraguay. Cardenal, lost office in 1987 due to cutbacks. In 1990, the Sandinists were voted out by the people in the first free and democratic elections. Cardenal nevertheless continues to profess himself to be "Sandinista, Marxist and Christian.”

Lugo won the 2008 elections, was relieved of office in 2012. He had just had to acknowledge the paternity of a second child whom he had conceived during his time as bishop of San Pedro with various women. He had already recognized the first child in 2009. Lugo's personal way of life was criticized as a "slap in the face of the Church.”

Due to the heterodox and heretical positions of Father Rafael Velasco, Francisco Fernandez de La Cigoña today greeted his appointment as the new Jesuit Provincial of Argentina and Uruguay as “a scandal.”

"The only positive thing about the news is that the Argentine and Uruguayan Jesuits are only fewer than 200, of whom one hundred must be eighty or almost eighty. Only 50 Jesuits will be younger than 60, of whom he is one of the youngest in the province at the age of 52.”

The cases of Velasco in Argentina and Wucherpfennig in Germany, to mention only the two most recent, as well as the scandalous statements by the Father General Arturo Sosa last year, means that it can be not only marginal cases, but the Jesuit Order seems to have a fundamental problem

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

(Managua) On August 30th, US columnist and native Argentinian Andrés Oppenheimer lamented Pope Francis' silence on the situation in Nicaragua. Oppenheimer called the papal behavior "shameful" and demanded an opinion on the "death of at least 322 people in the past four months in protests against the government." Other sources speak of over 400 dead killed by government units or paramilitary groups affiliated with the left-wing government. Meanwhile, it was known that Pope Francis would take a position, just not in the sense of Oppenheimer.

Anyone who has known the history of Nicaragua since the 1970s knows how much the local Jesuits and Marxist liberation theology had on the Sandinista revolution, the overthrow of Somoa and the establishment of a socialist dictatorship. In connection with Pope John Paul II's visit to Nicaragua in 1983, this break through the middle of the Church became particularly visible internationally. In the 1980s, the Western European New Left came up with enthusiasm for what was then the latest "socialist experiment.”

While the Jesuit and Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal in 1958 greeted John Paul II at the airport, sarcastically falling to his knees, he was greeted at the same time with a question that he defied the call to resign his ministry, as Church law prohibits clerics from the exercise of political office. At the adjoining Pope's Mass in Managua, the regime and its clerical supporters occupied the square in front of the Pope's pavillion with convinced Sandinistas who whistled and shouted at the Pope. That was the tolerance of Catholic Marxists towards the Pope.

In 1983, the Sandinists, whether clerical or anticlerical, and their European supporters saw the pope in Rome as an enemy. In 2018 they will see one of their own in him.

Tempora mutantur.

Greetings from Pope Francis to Comandante Ortega

As it is now known, Pope Francis actually commented on Nicaragua on August 31, a day after Oppenheimer's column, albeit quite differently from what the columnist had hoped.

Pope Francis sent a message of greeting to Nicaraguan Sandinista President Daniel Ortega via the Apostolic Nunciature in Managua. The occasion was the National Day, celebrated on 15 September, commemorating the 197th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain.

Yesterday, the "Comrade" Rosario Murillo, Vice President of Nicaragua and wife of President Ortega, "pleased" the public announced the contents of the papal letter.

"I deeply appreciate the wonderful, fitting letter of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, to Comandante Daniel Ortega and the people of Nicaragua. And we appreciate the attention of Lord Nuncio, with whom he sent us the letter of the Holy Father, that we might celebrate together in these days of the Fatherland and of the heart.”

And what exactly did Pope Francis write to the Comandante?

"His Excellency, Mr. José Danel Ortega Saavedra
President of the Republic of Nicaragua
Managua
On the occasion of the National Day of Nicaragua, I cordially greet all the sons and daughters of this beloved land and assure you of my prayer that Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, will grant you the graces of a brotherly reconciliation and a peaceful and united life together.
Francis PP. "

Friday, August 31, 2018

by Antonio Tortillatapa The case of Julio César Grassi has been holding Argentina under his spell for 25 years now. Julio César Grassi (born 1956) was ordained a priest in 1981. As part of Liberation Theology
and post-conciliar, humanitarian social engagement, he was particularly
involved in social work and "pastoral accompaniment" for poor children
and disabled people from deprived backgrounds in Argentina.
The decade-long economic decline of Argentina, the political turmoil,
the impoverishment of large parts of the population and the chronic
recurrent disappointed hopes with deep frustration of the poor
population strata, formed an excellent [hunting] ground for the activities of
Grassi.
Under Grassi's leadership, a large complex of social
welfare institutions and homes for the care and support of children and
adolescents from precarious conditions emerged.
Grassi promoted everything with a great media hype through television
and radio, with publications and with very complex and opaque financial
transactions. Grassi excelled in tying politicians and wealthy, well-known personalities to his activities and facilities.
Especially in the Peronist milieu (or in the political leadership caste
of Peronism at the end of the 20th century), he found many
sympathizers.
At the same time, his ability to raise funds for his
facilities was very great, and he became widely known through television
appearances. One focus was the establishment of Felices Los Ninos ("Happy Children") for children and adolescents with problems. The center of activities was the Argentine diocese of Morón, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. In 1992, a lawsuit was filed against Grassi on behalf of children and adolescents at the Felices los Ninos in a local court.

The case was not pursued and the proceedings suppressed.

In 1995, the world public was shaken by many cases of severe and
widespread and institutionalized sexual abuse of children and wards in
the Catholic Church in North America. Pope John Paul II wrote extensively to the bishops of North America.

At the same time, the sexual abuse of children and the disabled in Church institutions in Belgium came to light, in addition to abstruse advertising for pedophilia in local diocesan newspapers and religious books (affair Barzin , affair Roeach3 , case Anneke ).
At the turn of the millennium, the tremendous extent of child abuse was
perceived in the ecclesial context of Western Europe and North America; it was discussed in great detail in the media.
The Church establishment responded in 2005 mainly with cover-up,
beautification, attempts at deescalation and slick financial
compensation.
The number of trials became Legion, the convictions increased rapidly
and the compensation payments reached astronomical heights in the US. In 2002, the Argentine TV station Telenoche reported in a sensational report that a lawsuit had been filed against Grassi for pedophile abuse.
The news struck like a bomb: huge popular upheaval, broad media
interest, loud defiance of Grassi, and spirited complaints from angry
family members.
Anticlerical resentments, clerical protective reflexes, competition
between media holdings, financial irregularities and political fronts
additionally colored the Grassi case: a victim was very fiercely
defended by a protagonist of the Montoneros (left-wing Peronists); at the same time, much of the Peronist nomenklatura was associated with the omnipresent Grassi on television.

Extensive police and financial investigations took place. The complaints were examined very carefully; especially the cases "Gabriel", "Ezequiel" and "Luis" were very stressful.

The sealed-off structures of the facilities were screened, tons of
little Christian material came to light, many co-workers testified, and
not least the horrendous financial mismanagement and embezzlement came
to light. Grassi defended himself in a very strange way:

He did not respond to the allegations and substantiated very
hard-backed complaints with exhaustive, substantive evidence and
evidence, but threatened with very expensive lawyers, attacked the
victims loudly, tingled through radio and television stations and railed
against a media extermination campaign by the Argentine press group Clarin against him (Grassi) and his private broadcaster. Grassi refused to comply with a subpoena in court, became fleeting and also gave an interview with the radio before the camera. The matter escalated: In 2003 there were threats and attacks with firearms on witnesses and claimants.

The Grassi case has now become nationally known.

The Argentine episcopate was already aware of the explosive nature of
the Grassi affair in 2003: the responsible Bishop of Morón, Justo Oscar Laguna, had immediately forwarded the case to the next higher instance, the
Archbishopric of Buenos Aires, given the complexity of the case and the
manifold additional interests.
The victims and the witnesses, intimidated and threatened with
firearms, asked Cardinal Bergoglio, then archbishop of
Buenos Aires, for a meeting to stop the attacks on the victims and the witnesses. The request for a conversation was denied. By contrast, the plaintiffs and the witnesses were able to raise their concerns with Monsignor Justo Oscar Laguna (1929-2011), Bishop of Morón (1980-2004) and former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner. From various sides much pressure was exerted on the judicial organs.

On 10 June 2009, the Tribunal N ° 1 of Morón sentenced Don Julio Cesar
Grassi to 15 years' imprisonment for sexual abuse of minors and
corruption.
In September 2010, the Second Chamber of the Court of Cassation of the
Province of Buenos Aires rejected all appeals against this verdict.
On 27 November 2012, the Supreme Court rejected all recourses and
confirmed in January 2013, the first instance imprisonment of 15 years. However, Grassi then remained on the loose for a long time for unclear reasons.
He was arrested only on 23 September 2013 (according to the 2 + 1 rule
in force in Argentina - the period of pre-trial detention is double and
is counted towards the sentence - he would have been released in 2018). In 2016, Grassi was sentenced to another 15 years in prison for financial fraud and tax evasion. Theoretically, Grassi will remain in custody until 2033.

By the way: the word misericordia (mercy) did not even fit in this context.Sources:

Monday, December 11, 2017

Leonardo Boff's Book: Francis of Rome and Francis of Assisi. A NewSpringtime for the Church?

(Madrid) The television station rtvd of the Archdiocese of Toledo recommends to the audience the writings of Leonardo Boff and other liberation theologians.

The diocesan television station of the Archdiocese of Toledo publishes reading and gift recommendations. Among them are books by Leonardo Boff and Pedro Casaldaliga, two leading figures of Liberation Theology.

"49 or more" (49 o mas) is the name of the new program of the diocesan TV station that wants to recommend "good literature". The book recommended by Boff is called "Francis of Rome and Francis of Assisi" (Francisco de Roma and Francisco de Asis). The former Franciscan wants to connect Francis of Assisi with Pope Francis in a wide arc.

Boff had joined the Franciscan Order in Brazil in 1959. He completed his studies in Munich. He is considered one of the most important and best known liberation theologians. While criticizing the Church as an "institution" and its "hierarchy" as "fundamentalist," he showed open sympathy for communist regimes.

When, under Pope John Paul II, the Congregation of the Faith, under the leadership of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger condemned the Marxist liberation theology, Boff accused the later Pope Benedict XVI. of "religious terrorism". Boff had been accused not only of Marxism, but more in the dissemination of theological heresies, including syncretism.

When Boff did not abide by the public silence imposed by Rome in 1992, he was dimissed from his order and suspended from his priesthood. At a state, Brazilian university, he received a chair of ethics specially designed for him.

While Boff had called for schism under Pope Benedict XVI., he showed sympathy to the incumbent Pope at the beginning of the pontificate. While Leonardo Boff scattered flowers to the new pope from Argentina, his brother Clodovis Boff, Servite Father and former liberation theologian, expressed himself quite differently:

The Archbishop of Toledo is Msgr. Braulio Rodríguez Plaza, who is also the Primate of Spain. Although this position dates back only to the 11th century, when the city was reconquered in the wake of the Reconquista, it refers to the fact that Toledo was the capital of Spain before the Islamic occupation of the Visigoths. As local bishop, Archbishop Rodriguez Plaza is responsible for the diocesan television station.

Monday, January 23, 2017

(Rome) The Spanish daily El Pais published in yesterday's Sunday edition an interview with Pope Francis. In this, the leader of the Catholic church said that "liberation theology was a positive thing for Latin America," that "one can practice religion in China" and that he "must be much more incomprehensible because of my sins." An excerpt.

On Liberation Theology

El Pais : Do you not think that the Church has lost many positions for the benefit of other religions and sects even after the failed attempt of liberation theology? Why is that?

Pope Francis : Liberation theology was a positive thing in Latin America. The part was condemned by the Vatican which opted for the Marxist analysis of reality. Cardinal Ratzinger issued two instructions when he was prefect of the Congregation of the Faith. It was very clear about the Marxist analysis of reality, and a second in which he came back to the positive aspects. Liberation theology had positive aspects, but also deviations, especially in the Marxist analysis of reality.

To the People's Republic of China

El Pais : Can Vatican diplomacy soon be broadened in China?

Pope Francis : In fact, there is already a Commission working with China and meets every three months, once here [Vatican], once in Beijing. And there is a lot of dialogue with China. China has always had the aura of mystery, which is fascinating. Two or three months ago they were happy with the exhibition of the Vatican Museum in Beijing. And they will come to the Vatican in the coming year with their things, their museum.

El Pais : Will you soon travel to China?

Pope Francis: When I am invited. They know that. In China, by the way, the churches are full. They can practice religion in China.

Europe

El Pais : Do you think, Holy Father, that the signs are similar in Europe today, which were present in Germany in 1933? [It's like Hitler!!]

Pope Francis : I am not a technician in it, but on today's Europe, I refer to my three speeches. The two in Strasbourg, and the third, when I received the Charlemagne Prize, the only prize which I have accepted as a service because of the moment which Europe is going through. These three speeches say what I think about Europe.

About Paul VI. And misunderstanding

El Pais : 50 years ago there was almost everything. The Second Vatican Council, the journey of Paul VI. And the embrace with the patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy Land. Some say to understand you, they should come to know Paul VI. At a certain moment he was a misunderstood pope. Do you also feel a bit like an uncomfortable pope?

Pope Francis : No, no. I think I am much more misunderstood because of my sins. Paul VI was the martyr of disagreement. Evangelii gaudium was in the framework of the Pastoral. What I want to give to the Church now is an update of Evangelii nuntiandi of Paul VI. He is a man who went forward in history. And he suffered, suffered much. He was a martyr. And many things he could not do, because he knew as a realist that he could not, and so he suffered, but he offered that suffering. And he did what he could do. And what Paul VI did best: sow. He sowed things that were later harvested in history. Evangelii gaudium is a mixture of Evangelii nuntiandi and the Aparecida document [2007 Latin American Episcopal Conference]. Things that have grown from below. Evangelii nuntiandi is the best post-conciliar pastoral document and has lost none of its topicality. I do not feel misunderstood. I feel accompanied, accompanied by all types of people, boys, old people, ... Yes, some out there are disagreeable, and that's their right, because if I felt bad, because some disagree. that would be the beginnings of the dictator in my attitude. You have the right to disagree. You have the right to think that the road is dangerous, that it could bring bad results, that ... they have the right. But always on the condition that they enter into a dialogue, and not that they throw stones and hide their hand, not that. No man has a right to that. [Except for you and your close circle of intimates who rules the Vatican like oriental despots?] Throwing a stone, but hiding the hand is criminal. Everyone has a right to discuss, and hopefully, we will discuss a lot, because this is what sets us apart. The discussion unites. The discussion with good blood, not with slander and all that ... [Unless it's you who's doing the slander, Holiness?]

Monday, February 22, 2016

(Managua) He was a Minister Sandinista government. Under Pope John Paul II. he was suspended a divinis and expelled from the Jesuits. He was later reinstated into the order. He was not only a theoretical, but also a practical representative of Marxist liberation theology.

Now he has died at the age of 82 years and stands before the judgment seat of God. There is talk of Fernando Cardenal, the younger brother of Ernesto Cardenal. Both entered the Society of Jesus, were both politically active before their entry into the order, both were Catholic priests, they were both militant representatives of Marxist liberation theology and both were Ministers of the revolutionary Sandinista government that ruled Nicaragua from 1979-1990. With the collapse of the communist bloc, the Sandinista regime collapsed. Concealed, like some communist parties of Europe, the Sandinista Liberation Front FSLN today belongs to the Socialist International and is a sister party of the SPD, Social Democratic Party and SPS.

Revolutionary from a wealthy family

Fernando Cardenal was born in 1934 in Granada, Nicaragua, the son of a wealthy Spanish-born family. Together with his brother, Ernesto, he joined himself early to the Nicaraguan opposition and Marxist liberation theology. The brothers Cardenal became its most important practical representatives and participated in the armed struggle of the Sandinista underground FSLN (Sandinista Front of National Liberation) that fought against the Somoza government.

After the Sandinistas had violently overthrown the government in 1979, the brothers Cardenal took over leading tasks in the revolutionary government, which enjoyed great sympathy and support from the orthodox and unorthodox Left of Europe. Fernando was deputy chairman of the Sandinista Youth League.

The Brothers Cardenal as Ministers: suspension a divinis

The better known, older brother, Ernesto, became Minister of Culture of Nicaragua in 1979. His younger brother became Minister of Education in 1984 under Sandinista Daniel Ortega. The Vatican called for, as previously acknowledged by his brother, their immediate resignation. Fernando refused as previously his brother refused. A withdrawal would have been a "grave sin" explained Fernando Cardenal later to the BBC. "I can not think of a God, who would have required of me to let the people down."

Because of his disobedience, and because he had joined the armed struggle, he was suspended a divinis in Rome. Thus, he could no longer present himself as belonging to the Jesuit Order. The Order excludes a direct exercise of public office. So it had to meet the Roman demands and exclude Cardenal. However, the relationship between the brothers Cardenal and the Order remained benevolent.

The return to the Jesuit Order

In 1990 Sandinistas were voted out. After another six years, Fernando Cardenal was re-adopted by the Jesuit Order. After that, he had to repeat the novitiate for a year that he, so the biography went, spent his time "among the poorest of El Salvador", when he was admitted in 1997 back in full into the Order.

Since 2011, he headed has directed one of the order's own initiatives in Nicaragua. It was founded in 1955 by the Chilean Jesuit José Maria Velaz (1910 to 1985) in Venezuela. The movement is called Alegria y Fe. "Faith and Joy" is engaged, at least according to it's own report in "literacy" and "social and political awareness".

In the 1970s, Alegria y Fe became ideological and made ​​liberation theology its own. The 1974 movement was also active in Nicaragua. It maintains more than 1,000 schools and 53 radio stations in Latin America today.

On February 20, Fernando Cardenal died. Yesterday, in the ballroom of the Jesuit- led Central American University in Managua (Universidad Centroamericana, UCA), the Requiem took place . This was followed by burial.

Unlike his brother Ernesto, who opposed the social democratization of the FSLN resisted and the more radical, co-founded Movimento de Ronovacion Sandanista, the Movement of Sandinista Renovation (MRS), Fernando has not been politically active recently.

"May the Lord greet him with infinite mercy," said the Spanish columnist and opponent of liberation theology, Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña.

Friday, January 29, 2016

(Rome) Bishop José Raúl Vera López, Dominican and Diocesan Bishop of Saltillo in Mexico, is held to be the "bishop of the gay lobby" in the Catholic Church. The Liberation Theology "inspired" chief shepherd has been known in recent years primarily for his vociferous defense of homosexuality. On the day before the opening of the Synod of Bishops in 2015 on the family, Raul Vera was a "special guest" at a meeting of a "Catholic Gay Network" in Rome. Next February, he will be one of a small circle of selected persons with whom Pope Francis meets during his Mexico visit in secret.

For Aberrosexuals: "You are our savior"

When homo-meeting in Rome Bishop Raul Vera said to aberrosexuals: "You are our savior." He continued: "Who are small but well-organized, to defeat the monsters, and you are well organized and will conquer." That was considered just "little infidelity" by many. However, there was no Apostolic Visitor seen by Bishop Raul Vera in Saltillo, let alone being deprived of his office, as compared that has been issued to Opus Dei bishops, including Bishop Livieres Plano of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay. [And +Finn of Kansas] The Mexican media have already been writing since 2011 about Raul Vera: "People think that the bishop is not a Catholic."

The journalist Emiliano Ruiz Parra wrote benevolently about him: "The Bishop of Saltillo is convinced that there is no salvation in heaven without liberation on earth. (...) He defends the Central American migrants, the miners, the homosexuals, the indigenous people, sex workers, the families of the disappeared in the Civil War. " It pleased him to be "different".

In an interview with El Pais, Bishop Raul Vera told proudly what he said to a mother who had come to him to complain to him of her sorrow that her son was gay: "You have to condemn yourself, because your son has become that way in your belly. If he became the way he is, then it was in your stomach."

To have for each battle of the political left and let the unborn child in the lurch: Bishop Raul Vera

Catholic teaching on homosexuality "insane"

"Homophobic", is what the bishop says of all who reject homosexuality, who are "insane". Thus the bishop describes the Catholic doctrine and Catholics as "insane", are what protesting Catholics write in their letters to Rome.

In fact, Raul Vera made fun ​​in 2013 at the 33rd Congress of Liberation Theology in Madrid of what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about homosexuality. The Congress was supported by organizations representing abortion and gender ideology. For Raul Vera it's no problem. By 2011, the bishop called for the legalization of abortion in Mexico and started a collaboration with abortion organizations. For this he has been proposed for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 "because of his struggle for human rights."

For his 25th anniversary, Bishop Raul Vera invited all leaders of Marxist liberation Theology, from Gustavo Gutierrez to Jon Sobrino. In 2011 he was warned by the Vatican because of his support for homosexual groups, which has changed nothing.

Following the example of the Bishop other priests in Saltillo talk in the sense of "gay lobby." Don Pedro Pantoja, director of the Casa del Migrante of Saltillo, is just one of them. In 2014 he told the press: "The Church can not reject the adoption rights for homosexuals out of respect for diversity."

"Padre Gofo" (left) in strange costume, Bishop Raul Vera (right)

"Padre Gofo" and Bishop Raul Vera

Adolfo Huerta Aleman, popularly known as "Padre Gofo", is a priest of the Diocese of Saltillo, who has denied the existence of God and publicly boasted to entertain "frequent and alternating sexual relations". Nevertheless, Bishop Raul Vera only suspended him "temporarily" until July 2013, only after the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome had become involved.

Criticism of Pope Benedict XVI. appearing in the church newspaper of Saltillo were de rigeur. Raul Vera has described himself as a "controversial bishop". From a part of his diocese, he is rejected as a "liberal" who "twists the gospel" and "betrays the Catholic Church".

The closed and the open doors of Pope Francis

The late Bishop Livieres Plano left a flourishing diocese. His diocese, with just one-tenth of the Catholics of Paraguay, had three times as many seminarians as all other dioceses together. Which is a - not only - Latin American theme of vocations - and the shortage of priests. Argentina native went to Rome in September 2014 and was deposed during his absence from his diocese by Pope Francis. In Ciudad del Este, it is said that he was downright "lured" to Rome, because once there the bishop was simply allowed to stand before closed doors. The reason for the dismissal was given that he had disrupted the community of the Paraguayan Bishops. Despite his repeated entreaties, Pope Francis refused a discussion.

Quite different is the case Saltillo. Bishop Raul Vera is invited for next February by Pope Francis, where during a pastoral visit to Mexico, he will meet privately, wrote InfoVaticana. To be precise, it is a semi-private meeting at which only a small group of selected journalists and bishops will participate, a total of 20 people. And Bishop Raul Vera will be one of the elect.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

(Rome) There will be "no compromise of the Church's teaching" in the Bishops' Synod this autumn. This was affirmed by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the CDF. It is meant to seek pastoral ways to better integrate people in difficult situations in the community. While there is, says the Cardinal, no "substantial news" regarding the SSPX, there would be a decision to Medjugorje in the fall. Katholisch.de, the media portal of the German Bishops' Conference published an an interview with the Cardinal.

Renewal and Deepening of Marriage Preparation Necessary

Overlooking the Synod of Bishops on marriage and family the German cardinal stressed that the Church must help "the people, even Catholics, ...to re-understand what the point is to marry and so, also publicly, to bind a person." While the discussion is so far turned mainly to the "failure" of marriages, Cardinal Müller stressed the need for "a renewal and deepening" of marriage preparation.

The cardinal also confirmed that the "ordinary general assembly" of the CDF will deal this "autumn" with Medjugorje: "The opinion of the Congregation will be submitted to the Holy Father for a further decision."

Various encounters with SSPX , "which should enhance mutual trust"

When asked whether the "unification efforts were suspended or postponed," since "recently" the Priestly Society of St. Pius X had "become noticeably quiet," said Cardinal Müller that there was "no substantial news in this issue." "The Holy Father wants us to keep at it: with 'determination and patience.'" In the "recent months", there were "encounters of various kinds, which should enhance mutual trust." "A prerequisite for a full reconciliation" said the Cardinal again, "is the signing of a doctrinal preamble, to ensure full compliance in the essential matters of faith." The Prefect's response suggests that this singing the Preamble of 2012 is not required..

The recent trip to Latin America by Pope Francis has shown "that the Church must use an authentic liberation theology." He, Müller, has worked "for many years in accordance with the instruction of the Congregation" which the Marxist liberation theology was condemned in the 1980s, "for such a theology that is not aligned ideologically, but interested in the good of man and society." The election of Pope Francis on the Chair of Peter is "providential" because the majority of Catholics today live in Latin America. "Pope Francis has strengthened the believers on his journey from the Gospel and encouraged and called the peoples there to a peaceful and equitable coexistence. This is an order of the day," said Müller.

"I have Totally Committed my Life in Fidelity to the Pope"

When asked about his statement, there is a need to " theologically restructure" the pontificate of Pope Francis, the cardinal affirmed that "the specific task of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. . It has to promote the faith and morals throughout the Catholic Church on behalf of the Pope and protect his personal relationship with the reigning pope." Cardinal Müller said: "Personally, I have totally committed my entire life in loyalty to the Pope."

Addressing eco-Encyclical Laudato Si, Müller said, that he is "very grateful for the encyclical" to the Pope. The document had a "very strong social-ethical component" and leads from "the tradition of the social encyclicals." It "seems" to him that the Pope proposed, "to open the eyes of all people of good will to the problem of environmental and human ecology and promote dialogue with each other at all levels."

About the controversial issues is the allowance of remarried divorcees to Communion and the acceptance of homosexuality, with which the Synod of Bishops will deal next October, Cardinal Müller said: "Here the Synod faces the challenge to find pastoral ways of greater integration in the community, without compromising the Word of Jesus and the Church's teaching based on it. The family is irreplaceable importance for the future of the Church and of society. "

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

(Rome) On the return flight to Rome Pope Francis answered a few questions for the accompanying journalists on the plane. The Catholic Church leader was asked also to explain the provocative gift made the Pope of the hammer and sickle with Christ from the Bolivian President Evo Morales. Vatican Radio published the questions and complete answers in the original language.

Aura Vistas Miguel (Portugal Vaticanist): "Holiness, how did you feel when you saw the gift of President Morales with sickle and hammer with Christ? What became of this subject?"

Pope Francis: "I - it is strange - did not know that and did not know that Father Espinal was a sculptor and a poet. I have learned that during these days. I've seen it and it was a surprise for me. Secondly: It can qualify as a genre of protest art. For example, there was an exhibition by a brave, creative Argentine sculptor in Buenos Aires a few years ago. There was protest art, and I remember a work that showed a crucified Christ on a bomber coming down. This was a critique of Christianity, which is allied with imperialism, represented as a bomber.

First point: So I knew nothing about it; Second point: I qualify it as protest art that can be offensive in some cases. In some cases. Third, for this particular case: Father Espinal was killed in 1980. That was a time when the liberation theology had many different currents, one of them was the Marxist analysis of reality, and Fr. Espinal belonged to this. I knew because I was at that time Rector of the Faculty of Theology and they talked a lot about it, and who their representatives were in the different currents. In the same year the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Arrupe, wrote a letter to the whole society about the Marxist analysis of reality in the theology that he stopped a little, saying, No, you can not. These are different things, you can not do that, that's not right. And four years later, in 1984, the CDF published the first small volume, the first statement of the Liberation Theology, which criticized it.

Then came the second, which was more open to the Christian outlook. I simplify, of course. Let's take a hermeneutics of that era. Espinal is an enthusiast of this Marxist analysis, as well as theology, for which he used Marxism. Hence comes this. The poems of Espinal belong to this genre of protest, but it was his life, it was his way of thinking, he was a special man with a lot of human genius, and who fought in good faith. As I have done such a hermeneutics, I understand this. For me it was not an insult. But I had to make this hermeneutics, and I say this to you, so that no false opinions arise. This object is with me now, it's coming with me. You may have heard that President Morales wanted to give me two honors, the highest award of Bolivia and then the Order of Fr. Espinal, a new order. Well, I have never accepted a ceremony that does not suit me. But he did it with a lot of good will and the desire to do me favor. And I thought that that comes from the people of Bolivia - I've been praying for it and I thought: If I bring it to the Vatican, where it goes to a museum and no one sees it. So I thought to offer it to the Virgin of Copacabana, the Bolivian Mother, so that it goes to the Sanctuary: The work will be in the Sanctuary of Copacabana, together with the two awards that I received. Christ, however, I take with. Thanks. "

Thursday, July 9, 2015

(La Paz) Evo Morales gave a gift that was as tasteless as it was blasphemous to the Pope on Wednesday. What is it about the hammer and sickle and the Crucified One, which Pope Francis will take back to Rome?

The communist symbol of sickle and hammer with the crucified body is the "symbiosis" of "social commitment and Christianity" and was a "tribute" to the Spanish priest Luis Espinal, who had distinguished himself through his "commitment to social struggle". "Morales probably meant Socialism and Christianity '" said Infovaticana .

The newly created icon was placed around Pope Francis' neck as a pendant (see picture).

The Jesuit and Marxist Luis Espinal Camps

Luis Espinal Camps was a Spanish Jesuit and Marxist, who was murdered in 1980 in Bolivia.

Born in 1932 in Catalonia, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1949, was ordained in Barcelona in 1962, in 1963 gained his licentiate in theology and after that attended a course in journalism and audiovisual media at the Catholic University of Milan in Italy. The Jesuit was described as a gifted communicator.

Under the influence of socio-political left movement in Latin America, he went in 1968 at his own request to Bolivia. It was the time that left and right engaged in a military struggle for power in Bolivia, where communist guerrilla groups had been formed in the country and Che Guevara, who had arrived with Cuban guerrillas and Soviet support to enforce the armed revolution, had just been killed by the military.

Unlike other Latin American countries the left and right took turns in Bolivia exercising the government inscrutably in a fast rhythm.

Fight on the side of left movements

Espinal at a rally of miners unions and students 1979

Fr. Espinal, who considered himself a "worker priest" remained in the capital, La Paz, where he lived in a poor neighborhood with two other Jesuits. He worked as a theater critic for the daily newspaper Presencia and initially designed his own show on national television, in which he reported on the "worker priests" and took interviews with members of the Marxist guerrilla movement Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN). In 1971 he was awarded Bolivian citizenship. From that year until his death he was a member of the Jesuit radio station Radio Fides and chief editor of the weekly newspaper he founded, Aquí as a mouthpiece left "popular movements". He supported the miners' movement, founded in 1976 the human rights organization, Asamblea de Derechos Humanos and joined a public hunger strike in 1977 with the demand for democratization.

Luis Espinal was one of a number of Jesuits and got closer to various forms of Marxism. Unlike his brothers he did not go over to armed struggle.

When the Leftist Nationalist, Lidia Gueiler Tejada from the interim Revolutionary Nationalist Movement of Bolivia, was the President of the Republic, Espinal was abducted and murdered on March 21, 1980. Whether the offenders were sent by the drug cartels that soon afterwards supported the dictatorship of Luis García Meza Tejada, or from one of the various rapidly changing, and disempowered military rulers could never be clarified. Espinal followers see the reason in his public criticism of an amnesty for crimes during the tenure of President Banzer.

During the Pope's visit it has been repeatedly pointed out that Espinal was assassinated just two days before Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. An attempt to put the Jesuit into a new line of geopolitical saints.

State-honored Christian-Marxist "Folk Hero"

Hammer, Sickle and crucified, "Socialism and Christianity" on a chain that was placed around Pope Francis' neck.

In 2007 President Evo Morales declared March 21 the "Day of the Bolivian Cinema" in memory of the assassination of Luis Espinal. Pope Francis prayed today in the place where Fr. Espinal was murdered. Here the Catholic Church's leader said:

"Good evening, dear sisters and brothers,

I have come to a halt in order to greet you, and especially to remember. At that resembles those a friend, one of our brothers, a victims of interests, that did not want him to fight for the freedom of Bolivia. Fr. Espinal has preached the Gospel and this gospel bothered, and that's why they eliminated him. We hold a minute's silence in prayer and then we pray all together.

[Silence] "

President Morales declared to Pope Francis that the scandalous gift that he made to the head of the church is a "memento" of Luis Espinal, who was "known for his religious beliefs and stood up for the defense of the poor, the marginalized and the sick."

However, Father Luis Espinal received sharp criticism during his time in Bolivia mainly by the Church's sharp criticism and his sympathy for the revolutionary, Marxist movements. The weekly newspaper he founded in 1979, Aquí celebrated him today as a "martyr", "folk hero" and "symbol" of liberation theology . For his followers, and thus is he honored by the presidency of the left-wing populist Evo Morales as well as official Bolivia, Luis Espinal is a leftist symbol in the fight against a flexibly defined "rights".

Several organizations presented Pope Francis a letter in which they expressed their desire for the beatification of Luis Espinal.

Update: apparently, the Pope wasn't angry and didn't say, "no, this is wrong" or variations on that. Thank you Father Lombardi. Catholic Snooze Service tries to downplay Espinal's obvious Marxism, and gets it wrong. Bolivia was ruled by a Leftist President at the time Espinal was dealt with.

In 1958, Feeney correctly wrote that “the Jewish race constitutes a united anti-Christian bloc within Christian society, and is working ...

Purpose

This is a polemical Catholic Royalist blog. It will also attempt to provide a window onto various events, situations and personalities not generally or favorably presented to the purview of the general public in the English speaking world. It also hopes to be a bridge for those who wish to cross over, unite and fight for the truth.